Former High Court judge Dyson Heydon has told the first sitting of the Coalition Government's royal commission into unions he is heading that its terms of reference are "not hostile to trade unions", while outlining the heavy criminal sanctions that apply to those who breach its rules.
The FWBC has included state leaders of the CFMEU and CEPU in a list it has issued today of 18 construction union officials who don't hold federal entry permits, in a bid to help the industry's employers repel unauthorised workplace visits.
The unions singled out for investigation by the Abbott Government's royal commission have started receiving "notices to produce" ahead of next week's preliminary hearing in Sydney.
Labor and Greens members that make up the majority of a Senate committee have adopted AiG's view that substantial elements of the Abbott Government's Registered Organisations Bill are too onerous and need to be relaxed.
The ACTU has fired the first shot in the royal commission into union corruption, finance and governance by telling the inquiry chief Dyson Heydon that it wants a ban on selective leaking of evidence to the media before hearings.
Former HSU East secretary Michael Williamson will spend a minimum of five years behind bars after being sentenced today for defrauding the union of nearly $1 million.
MUA WA branch assistant secretary Will Tracey has lost his challenge to the Fair Work Commission's decision last year to refuse him a federal entry permit because he didn't meet the "fit and proper person" test.
One of the largest left-wing unions, United Voice, faces a major shake-up after national secretary Louise Tarrant and national president Michael Crosby flagged they won't stand for re-election later this year.
A firebrand ex-leader of the meatworkers' union, Wally Curran, has died in Melbourne, rekindling memories of his famous falling out with former ACTU president and future Labor prime minister, Bob Hawke.
